Best Lawyers Near You in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
Nelson E. Baez is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Nelson E., who practices law in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Nelson E. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Attorney Chris Larmoyeux is a partner with the personal injury law firm of Larmoyeux & Bone, P.L. Prior to forming Larmoyeux & Bone, Mr. Larmoyeux was a partner with the firm of Montgomery & Larmoyeux. Before that, he was a partner with the firm of Montgomery, Searcy & Denney from 1985 to 1989, and a partner with Montgomery, Lytal, Reiter, Denney & Searcy, P.A., in West Palm Beach, Florida from 1983 – 1985, where he began his legal career in 1979. Mr. Larmoyeux gradu...
Lindsay M. Reinhart is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Lindsay M., who practices law in West Palm Beach, Florida, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Lindsay M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
CALVIN WARRINER III (Cal) has been with the firm for 32 years and has been a Shareholder since 1991. He joined the firm as a seasoned trial attorney and is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by both The Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy, as well as being a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. He has been nominated by his peers and received the distinction of being included in the prestigious publication The Best Lawyers in America as wel...
MARIANO GARCIA is a Florida Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer who has been practicing in West Palm Beach since 1994, representing people in personal injury and commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts. He has achieved an AV rating for the highest level of professional ability and ethics from Martindale Hubbell. He is a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the American Board of Trial Advocates and has been selected to Florida Super Lawyers...
Michael J. Pike is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law, Litigation - Real Estate and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Michael J., who practices law in West Palm Beach, Florida, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
CHRISTOPHER K. SPEED joined the firm as a Shareholder in 1994 after representing plaintiffs in Virginia for 20 years. He has spent his entire career pursuing justice for victims of personal injury, medical and legal negligence, aviation accidents and defective products. Mr. Speed is also a founding member of the Northern Virginia Plaintiff’s Bar Association, an organization of plaintiff lawyers dedicated to improving the ability of victims to pursue justice for their injuries. He often ...
MATTHEW K. SCHWENCKE earned his law degree from Stetson University College of Law, where he was a member of Stetson's award-winning moot court board. While in law school, he served as intern to a federal magistrate judge and also prosecuted misdemeanor criminal offenses as a Certified Legal Intern for the Pinellas County State Attorney's office. As an undergraduate, Mr. Schwencke attended the University of Florida on a Bright Futures Scholarship; he graduated with honors. A Palm Beach County ...
KAREN E. TERRY is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. in West Palm Beach and has been with the firm for 25 years. Recently, Ms. Terry became Florida Bar Board Certified in civil trial law as well as in health care and medical malpractice, which are the highest honors one can achieve. For the last 10 years in a row, she has been named as one of The Best Lawyers in America. Recently honored as one of the top-rated lawyers in health care in the United States, Ms. ...
DONALD J. WARD III is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Notre Dame Law School, where he earned his degree cum laude. At age 26, in his first jury trial, Mr. Ward obtained a verdict of $824,200, which was more than thirteen times what the defendant had offered to settle the case. Since joining Searcy Denney, he has recovered in excess of $100 million on behalf of his clients. He currently serves as President of the Palm Beach County Justice Association, a countywid...
JOHN (JACK) SCAROLA graduated with honors from Georgetown University in 1969 and from Georgetown Law Center in 1973. Before joining the firm in 1978, he was Chief Felony Prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office, where he was lead counsel in the trials of more than 50 major criminal cases, including the nation’s first gavel-to-gavel televised murder trial. Mr. Scarola is Board Certified in both Civil Trial Practice and Commercial & Business Litigation. While ...
DAVID P. VITALE JR. is an experienced trial attorney who has litigated cases throughout the state of Florida. Mr. Vitale has been nationally recognized for his achievements by Best Lawyers in America (Ones to Watch) and The National Trial Lawyers (Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Attorney – Florida). He has also been recognized by his local peers as a Palm Beach Illustrated Top Lawyer and a Jupiter Magazine Top Lawyer. In addition to pursing personal injury, wrongful death, and medical m...
Rosalyn “Sia" Baker-Barnes is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., and the Chairperson of the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. In her over 20-year career, she has successfully pursued justice for victims in personal injury, medical negligence and product liability cases and frequently lectures throughout the United States on catastrophic injury cases. She has achieved numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, includi...
CHRISTIAN D. SEARCY is president and CEO of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. and writes and lectures extensively about civil trial practice, personal injury and wrongful death. For 46 years he has litigated cases primarily involving catastrophic injury and death in venues throughout Florida as well as in other states. At age 29, he had the distinction of being the youngest lawyer in the United States to achieve a verdict of $1 million for a single personal injury lawsuit. In...
JUAN C. DIAZ AVIL A has devoted his legal career to the litigation of personal injury, premises liability, wrongful death, negligent security and products liability claims, representing his clients in both state and federal courts from inception of the case through trial. As a native Spanish speaker, he is especially well equipped to understand and serve the needs of the Latino community. Before joining Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart, & Shipley, P.A. Mr. Diaz Avila worked with the larg...
Born and raised in a small town in Northeast Ohio, Pete learned from an early age that hard work pays off. Never the most intelligent student or the most gifted athlete, he excelled at both because he worked harder than everyone else. His beautiful and talented Wife is a fellow trial lawyer. Together, they have 3 children and 2 Beagles. Pete attended the University of Dayton where he received his Bachelors degree in Marketing. He later moved to Florida shortly after graduation and worked a co...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.